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I just got my first AC window unit, 6400 BTU. I read about what square footage it is supposed to cool and decided to put it in the guest room, the smaller of my two bedrooms. (about 9' x 15').
I read an ad on the local listserv where someone is selling a 6000 BTU AC and they said it cooled their entire 4 BR level. Is that possible?
What happens if you try to make it cool too large a space, will it damage the unit?
Finally, if I wanted to cool the entire upstairs (2 BR and a hallway), I would have to put it in a window in the hall way. About 4 feet away is the stairs going down. Would cold air just go down the stairs and defeat the purpose?
> I read an ad on the local listserv where someone is selling a 6000 BTU AC and they said it cooled their entire 4 BR level. Is that possible?
Nope.
> What happens if you try to make it cool too large a space, will it damage the unit?
No. Your electric bill will be high though.
> Finally, if I wanted to cool the entire upstairs (2 BR and a hallway), I would have to put it in a window in the hall way. About 4 feet away is the stairs going down. Would cold air just go down the stairs and defeat the purpose?
If you put an air conditioner in near a stairwell, most of the cold air will end up down the stairwell.
If you have two bedrooms you will need two air conditioners.
Yes, the cold air would tend to drop and the upstairs remain warm.
Effectiveness is based partly on how well insulated a place is and how much ensolation it gets. Some Vermont houses are extremely well insulated, and a small AC can make them tolerable.
I used to keep one room in my Vermont house at about 70 degrees in summer, as a refuge from heat. That room was about 12 x 12 and outside temps 85+
My main caution for you is to be sure you level the unit, and inspect after a few hours for drips on the window frame, inside and outside. Push come to shove, there is usually a knockout where you can use a tubing to remove the condensate water, but in a properly leveled unit you usually don't need it.
Stay cool, I know it is unusually hot up there and most people aren't used to it.
6400 btus is about 1/2 ton. Depending on where you are. 1 ton will cool 600 - 900 square feet. So a half ton will do about half that square footage, or roughly 300 - 450 square feet.
Of course you have to consider insulation, window types, configuration of rooms and air flow.
A half ton unit might cool a fairly large basement just fine, but fail miserably in a place with vaulted ceilings and lots of windows.
I have some friends who have those inside wall type units. They love them.
If your window allows for a wide hose, you could consider one of those floor types where the hose goes out the window and there is some plastic to go around it sold with it. We used one of those a few years ago when our a/c went out on one floor. It can be noisy...or can be a hum, depending on how you are about sound.
I have found that the smaller AC window-units do an admirable job cooling small areas. But a whole home.......unless it is very tiny, nope.
A small AC unit will get overwhelmed and do a poor job cooling if you try to use it in too big of any area, especially when the temps get into the 90s and above
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